Country: AfghanistanGovernment: Islamic Republic
Capital: Kabul
Official languages: Pashto and Persian (Dari)
Population: 32 million
Getting Afghanistan as the first country for our project seemed to be quite the rocky start. As it turns out there are quite a few good resources on the web, and Afghan music even has it very own Elvis going by the name of Ahmed Zahir.
After spending some time listening to the guy, I find myself to prefer what seems to be his early work from the 1950s (when radio spread in Afghanistan). These arrangements are quite low-key and lo-fi, with only a guy singing to a few traditional instruments and something that sounds like an organ. Later on it evolved into something that I would expect from pretty much any artist in the region, and that's not really to my likings.
The Russian invasion in 1979, followed by civil war and then the Taliban regime (banning all forms of music) have had a negative impact on all Afghan music. Since the American lead invasion in 2001 a lot have changed and this leads me to one of the new genres that is picking up pace - Afghan Hip hop.
Currently it seems to be a small, but ambitious community surrounding the music. And I've seen ambitious examples of Western gangsta-style in Thug Kabul City and then the more humorous Afghan Rap For Dr Dry. Not to forget Yar e Wafadar!
While listening to some more random Afghan music, I realize that the probability to find music that I like more than that of Ahmed Zahir are getting slimmer by the minute. So let's sum things up with some basic facts about Afghanistan, and if you have not done so already, please do tune into a nice tribute (also see below) to Zahir.
